Westray Wife

My lovely, dedicated cheesemonger in Orkney has sent me some Westray Wife cheese which you recall was out of stock in Mellis, the cheese shop in Edinburgh. I have not been to Westray, but I believe it to be one of the finest of the Orkney Islands (after Hoy!). If I am ever able to travel further than the gate post again, then I must make an effort to spend a night there. I might even do the Westray to Papa Westray flight which is the shortest flight in the world- about 2-3 minutes in the air.

The museum in Edinburgh sold me my little model of the Westray Wife ( whose potted history I have included in the blip) and she sits on my desk alongside some of the Lewis Chessmen. She is a bit wobbly when she stands and needs to be propped up, but the Lewis men are very respectful of her inadequacies.

With my glass still more than half full today and the sun shining, I have been out for 2 route marches, using orienteering to find pavements clear of ice. Out on my first walk at 9:45, I stood in the middle of the High Street outside St Giles and not one other person or car was visible from the Camera Obscura near the Castle right down past the Tron - the deserted city and a little spooky.
The afternoon walk was partly in the company of the hordes until I escaped down a side street. Where have all these people come from, snaking their way in a very, very long queue for coffee and standing in big groups to drink it? Students by the look of things.

Unfortunately I have as usual over compensated for the exercise by baking ginger biscuits and testing far too many of them under the guise of quality control. When will I learn!